Ray: I have noticed that the women’s basketball lineup that you include with the article about
the featured game looks different (men’s too). I really liked the format from years past, it
included a few more stats and was nice to have that info when I watched the game. Any way you can
include the roster and more stats?

— Nancy Taggart, via email

Editor: I know the focus in Columbus is Ohio State sports, Cincinnati and Cleveland sports.
With this past football season, I have noticed all the news coverage about Ohio Dominican football.
I am happy for Ohio Dominican, but am quite upset at the same time.

I played football at Ready High School, graduated in 2012, and went onto play football at
Ashland University. Not only was I a central Ohio kid going to Ashland, there are quite a few
central Ohio kids playing sports at Ashland. Ashland won the GLIAC Conference last season, where
was the coverage about that when we won it? Overlooked.

Our women's basketball team won the national championship last year for Division II, with two
girls from central Ohio on that team. Where was the coverage there? Again, overlooked. Our cross
country team made it to nationals, with a few central Ohio kids on the team. Coverage? None. Our QB
tied Russell Wilson’s record last season with most consecutive passes thrown without an
interception for all divisions. Where was the story? No story.

We had a few guys from last year’s football team go to the NFL. No coverage at all. I am very
upset about this and I feel not only the newspaper, but the news and every other media here in
Columbus, needs to recognize Ashland University athletics some more. Recognize them more for the
kids who are from Columbus working their tails off to get to the national championships.

— Brandon Gutheil, Columbus

Editor: First off, who knows if Ohio State is as good as their record? They have played
nobody and I mean nobody. And they have nobody left to play. I know Urban Meyer said that Indiana
has some quality players but that’s a tad hard to swallow after being thumped (again) by the
Badgers.

He also said the BCS is flawed and I don’t disagree with that. But this four-team playoff
thing is already flawed, too. As long as you have preseason rankings, it will be flawed. The
advantage to the big schools will always hold true. If there were no polls until, say, the sixth
week you might get closer but the No. 5 team is going to complain no matter what.

— Fred Haefner, Hilliard

Ray: I was moved, as I’m sure many were, about the Nick Foligno family article (last Sunday).
As a father and grandfather of healthy children, I am truly blessed and I wish that for all. To see
Nick out on the ice playing with such passion and will is a tribute to his professionalism and
dedication.

Way top go, "Lou." Please know there are fans out here that appreciate you! Hoping all the
best for you, your family and Milana Maria.

— Rick Wolfe, Columbus

Sports desk: Aaron Portzline’s story on Nick Foligno’s infant daughter is well-written and
well-reported. I can’t help but notice, though, the background of the accompanying picture — a Bon
Jovi concert ad featuring a knife through a heart.

I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m sure you can see how this could be
read as a little insensitive, given the story’s subject.

— Erin McGuire, via email

Mr. Stein: I can’t see how Baylor, who is one game behind us and allowed unranked, 7-4 with
four L’s in a row Texas Tech, to score 34 points on them while scoring themselves a measly 63
points, performed any better than Ohio State did. Why in the world would they be leapfrogging us?

No one seemed to mention that Alabama only outscored their opponent, bottom-feeder
Mississippi State (4-6) by 13 points. Were there long faces at the press conference for ‘Bama too?
Where’s the justice?

That said, maybe Florida State, who put the proper points on the board against Syracuse,
should leapfrog ‘Bama to No. 1.

— Jake Schneider, via email

Ray: It was good to see that I’m not the only one (John Mazza, Mailbox, last Sunday) who
thinks the Jackets are making a big mistake by not signing Vinny Prospal.

Again, the Jackets are nearly the youngest team in the league and most young teams are at the
bottom. As you point out, Prospal is not the future and you are right but the Jackets need to win
now and Prospal can help. The Jackets are 6-10-3 at this writing and if they had Prospal, my view
is they would be 9-7-3.

Another two weeks of the way things are going and Todd Richards will be fired. The Jackets
have been around long enough that they should know it is a mix of young men and older men that make
a hockey team and that you must win now and not wait for the future.

Maybe the Jackets think that every young prospect will turn into Rick Nash. Now with Gaborik
out, they need to make a phone call.

— Len Adzima, Pickerington

Ray: It’s too early to talk about individual awards but Carlos Hyde will look back on this
season as a "what if" I could have kept my nose clean. He would have had a legit shot of winning
the Heisman Trophy.

— Doug Meyer, Dublin

Editor: OMG, Armegeddon! Beat writers, please look at the standings. The Jackets are only 8
points out of first and 6 out of second. They have 64 more games, good players are ready to return.
Bob will regain it. They were crappy last year and turned it on in a very short season. They have
50% of points in last 4 games.

Quit burying them this early. No one in that division is playing good. And people of C-BUS,
you do not deserve a major team. 12,000 for a Friday game against an original six is very, very
sad. And do not give me that crap about we only support winners. I wish the Jackets could pick and
choose against Dairy Queen and Jiffy Lube like some other team!

— Tom Padovan, Columbus

Mr. Stein: I enjoy following the Marion-Franklin Red Devils during the football playoffs.
Thank you for the front page coverage in Saturday's sports section. They are one of the best kept
secrets in Columbus, only getting the coverage during the play-offs. Wish the team, coaches, and
fans the best and hope they reach the finals.

— Chris Beale, Galloway

Ray: As a day-one ticket holder I was disturbed to see that Jarmo is now realizing after
another disastrous start to the season that perhaps that leadership thing of the "older" guys in
the locker room really was necessary to mold young kids into a cohesive unit.

Seeing the raft of injuries to the young "future stars" and the lack of offense overall it still
boggles the mind that Vinny Prospal the teams leading scorer last year and who lead in the"game of
the mind "was dispatched so quickly and so shabbily last summer.

We fans continue to watch the shuffle of the Chaputs and Skilles etc who may fill a roster hole
but can't fill the leadership hole which is so obviously missing. Is it too late to crawl on ones
knees and beg Vinny to come back?

— John MacLaurin, Columbus

Editor: I'm curious about the strength of schedule comparison of the football team winning
streak. If you added up the wins and losses during the streak in the late 60's and computed the
winning percentage and did the same for the current streak, which one is better? Wouldn't this
interest your other readers too?

Why is the delivery schedule later on weekends? Today when the paper wasn't delivered until
almost 8:00, I didn't have time to get through the Sports section and GameDay before Urban's show
at 9:00. I would like to have those sections read before the TV coverage starts.

— Ron Stoltz, via email

Ray: It is halftime of the OSU-Illinois game. For the first time in memory I am not going to
watch the second half of an OSU game. While they are up, it is hard to watch a team that knows they
need to win big play that sloppy. Missed tackles, missed blocks, poor punt coverage, bad throws and
an unwilling defensive coaching staff to change up their scheme to mitigate the short pass.

The effort is lacking and not that they will miss me, but I would rather go shopping with my
wife then watch an uninspiring game. I hope Urban rips into them during the half, but I won’t find
out because I will be shopping, eating and quaffing a few down with my lovely wife.

— Rick Matsumoto, Westerville

Editor: It is time for the Blue Jackets to name a captain. This young team needs leadership
on the ice and Brandon Dubinsky is the man. He plays hard every game and he will bring his tenacity
and toughness to the locker room as well. A lot of promises were made by management this year and
it is time for them to make the first move to save the season.

— Bill Fulcher, Columbus

Editor: Evan Spencer’s comments were right on! OSU should hope that his "off-the-cuff"
remarks about Alabama and Florida State become bulletin-board material as neither team is on their
schedule right now.

With no respect from the media, I applaud his confidence in his team. With the longest win
streak in football, we are the best team in the country and hopefully we will get the chance to
wipe somebody in the championship game!

— Bill Fulcher, Columbus

Editor: The CBJ hit a new low (Nov. 15) versus Montreal. What did not show up in the stats
sheet was the number of people inside Nationwide Arena. The attendance was posted at 11,562 but it
was the smallest crowd I have ever seen. The lower bowl almost had empty sections. My estimate is
closer to 8,000 people in the seats.

What is sad is that the Montreal Canadiens were in town on a Friday night. Montreal is an
original six team and has an unmatched history of winning 23 Stanley Cups. Although they have not
won since 1993 they are a team that should have drawn a true hockey fan to the arena. Add to that
the fact that Jackets are not playing very well and this is the result.

Despite sound changes in management, Davidson and Kekalainen don’t lace up the skates. Marian
Gaborik is now playing for his third NHL team has demonstrated how quickly he can become a $7
million floater. He is now injured. James Wisniewski the highest paid defenseman can score but it
is a question of how many times will he turn the puck over. The over /under is about three per
game.

The big problem is that there are too many guys playing on the first and second lines who are
third- and fourth-line guys. Too many plumbers and not enough finishers.